My 17-85 has developed the Err 01 fault. I have cleaned the contacts to no avail. No problems with any other lenses so it has to be a lens fault. I am now debating if it is worth having the lens fixed. From what I can see on various web sites this lens is prone to this fault so my concern is that if I get it fixed it is a matter of time before it fails again. Scrapping it will not leave to big a hole in my coverage as I have a 12-24, a 30mm1.4 and a 70-200. My thinking is that my money will be best spent by buying a 50mm (probably Sigma 1.4 as I have good experience of their lenses). As someone who spent most of his photographic life with prime lenses the ability to frame an image with a zoom function is not really an issue for me.

Thoughts please. Is this a fault that will just come back in a year or so, or will fixing it be a one off expense?ken

I had the same issue. I sent it in to Canon to be fixed and so far, everything has been OK. (I forget how much I paid, but it is a flat rate, so it does no harm to ask.) It was my main lens, so I pretty much had to get it fixed.

A used 17-85 goes for around $275 these days, so it would all depend on what Canon wanted to fix it. If you send it in for repair they'll quote you a repair cost and you can decide then whether it's worth fixing or not. If not they'll send it back to you and you can either junk it or sell it on eBay. Somebody will buy it!

BTW it's always worth giving Canon a shot. Someone I know recently had a shutter problem with their 7D and it was a few months out of warranty. He sent it to Canon and they fixed it for free. The 17-85 is probably too old for such a "courtesy" repair, but you don't know what they will charge until you ask.

Thanks for that information. In the UK it will cost the equivalent of $200 to get the problem fixed and my conclusion is that it is not worth it. My feeling right now is that the lenses are a bit too complex to be reliable over a long period of time. I guess that the L series lenses are a bit different in this respect. Today I was using an old screw thread Pentax lens (48 years old) on my 40D in a copy stand. I cannot imagine that any of today's lenses will still be useable in 50 years time. But then with my old Pentax and Rolleiflex cameras I had to do everything manually.

The money I would have to spend on a repair will make a nice contribution to the cost of a Canon 24-70. Once again thanks for the information.ken

Well, I have a 50/1.8 (original version) that's probably approaching its 25th birthday! Of course it's a pretty simple lens, but it does have a focusing motor and electronic iris.

You are right though. Eventually when an electronic lens breaks, there will be no replacement electrical parts around to fix it with. With an older mechanical lens, any good watchmaker/camera repairer/machinist could probably copy a broken part.

As for your lens, I'd put it up for auction on eBay. I'm frequently amazed at the prices that broken stuff goes for. Someone with the skill (or who thinks they have the skill) could buy that lens and probably repair it for under $25. You'd easily get $50 and probably $100 to add to your lens fund!